


This Wasn't Part Of The Plan

by poetically_ordinary



Category: Marvel, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: M/M, Pining, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Sokovia Accords
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-03
Updated: 2016-11-03
Packaged: 2018-08-28 19:22:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8460022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poetically_ordinary/pseuds/poetically_ordinary
Summary: There’s a chain around Tony’s neck, and Steve hates it.





	

It takes almost two years before Steve is forced to come to the realization that the Accords aren’t going anywhere. The seemingly one sided struggle between Steve and those who followed him doesn’t appear to have any effect on the legislation as it goes into full effect with almost minimal fanfare.

Steve can admit that he was surprised at the unexpected turn of events. He had assumed that others would eventually come to see the Accords as he did. As a bunch of red tape that was designed for one thing: to control those with abilities and turn them into government owned weapons.

He had worried for Tony back during those days. Back when he was waiting for the guillotine to fall and take the billionaires head with it. Tony was the face of the Accords after all – well _one_ of them, but King T’Challa was safe within his own borders, surrounded by various bodyguards and the like. Tony? Tony really only had Happy, someone who Steve couldn’t help but think was sorely underqualified for the job.

Steve had imagined that things would have gone differently. That Tony would come to realize that the Accords were just a bunch of people with agenda’s trying to control his technology and enslave people whose only crime was being different. Steve had waited for the phone to ring, for Tony to finally reach out to him and apologize – asking for Steve’s help.

Steve would have given it in a heartbeat.

The weight of their parting hung heavily on Steve’s shoulders, making each day – each breath – painful. He hadn’t meant for it all to go down the way it did, he hadn’t meant to hurt one friend just to save another. It was just…once the momentum got going, it had seemed impossible at the time to stop everything and make it turn around.

He had sent the letter to Tony, apologizing to him and trying to get him to see why Steve did what he did. The reasons behind why he had acted in the way that he had. He hoped that it gave Tony some kind of closure or peace. That Tony would read in-between the lines and see that Steve still cared about him, that they were still family. That all Tony had to do was reach out and take the hand that Steve was offering and they’d put all of this behind them. Fix all of this chaos that they had wrought upon the world – together. The way they always should have been.

But that wasn’t what had happened.

Instead, the phone remained silent.

Instead, heroes from all over the world willingly allowed themselves to be put under the jurisdiction of the Accords.

Steve guessed that it had more to do with Tony then the actual politicians who had drafted up the original outline. It had been on the news for months after Siberia, after Steve had left Tony broken, that Iron Man’s pilot had unleashed his massive army of lawyers who had picked apart the document, drafting up a new Accords agreement in the process.

Steve had looked over it back then, when it had been posted online for everyone to see. It was leaps and bounds beyond the first one, but the basic underlying idea of them still lingered and he knew it would only be a matter of time before someone like Ross took advantage of all of these good people who were just trying to make a difference.

He’d sent a few text messages Tony’s way to congratulate him on all of his progress with the Accords. He’d never received a response back. He would have loved to ask T’Challa how Tony was doing, since the King frequently made trips overseas to meet with the brunet. However, after Wanda’s express concern that Wakanda was just another fancy prison – like the Compound had been – they had left.

Steve had understood both sides of the argument. Wanda had been correct in her declaration. Wakanda was beautiful, but for the short time they had been there, they had been unable to have free reign. T’Challa had offered them beautiful accommodations, there was no doubt about that – but a cell was still a cell no matter how nice it was.

Steve also understood the position that their presence put T’Challa in. The King was one of the signers of the original Accords, and was responsible for an entire country. Steve was more than aware that they were not permitted amnesty in Wakanda because T’Challa agreed with them or their cause. Instead the King had informed them that he’d done it due to his behavior towards Bucky, but that while he’d keep them out of jail he could not allow them unlimited access to his country.

So they had left, and had met up with Natasha. It was the only angry text that Steve had ever sent Tony and he regretted it the next morning when he had more time to mull over why Tony would abandon Natasha like that. It still hadn’t been right, or even remotely okay – but Steve wished that he could have taken back the words that he had used and exchange them with kinder, more understanding ones.

Not that it mattered. Tony never replied.

Eventually, it all caught up with them. Steve knew the day would come when they’d be taken in. Tony hadn’t been there, through the entire process he’d been strangely absent. He’d sent over lawyers though, Steve hadn’t really realized that he expected the action until he actually _saw_ them. It had brought a small smile to his face.

Tony was still looking out for them. His team – his family.

The signing of the Accords still left a bad taste in Steve’s mouth, but after weeks of back and forth it became clear that this was the only option that was left open to them. Steve had wanted Tony to be there, to make the brunet look him in the eyes as they all but blackmailed Steve and the Avengers into signing the papers in order to get their lives back.

Once the papers were signed though, Steve was informed that their place of residence hadn’t been changed. The Avengers Compound was a sight for sore eyes. Steve hadn’t even realized how much he missed it until he was getting out of the vehicle and staring at it again.

He was home.

The building was different now, bigger – it had to be in order to manage all of the new members and requirements laid out in the Accords. He looked over at the group to see matching looks of relief on their faces.

It was the first time in over two years that he’d seen Tony in person.

When they’d entered the area he saw T’Challa and Tony standing up on the balcony talking to each other. They didn’t seem to realize who had just walked through the door, seemingly unconcerned with whoever was below them.

Tony looked good. It was like a releasing of a fear that Steve hadn’t fully realized he had. He’d been afraid that the billionaire had fallen into his common patterns of self-neglect and destruction without Steve to be there to pull him out of it. The heavy makeup that Tony had been sporting after their skirmish in Siberia to hide his bruises hadn’t eased Steve’s worries.

It took a few moments before Tony and T’Challa seemed to finish their conversation and Steve couldn’t stop the frown that overtook his face when Tony laughed freely with the Wakandan king, placing a hand on his arm and T’Challa smiled back in an overly familiar sort of way.

“Tony!” The brunet’s name comes out of his mouth and the two men glance down at the ragtag group of people standing in the opening area. There’s some kind of emotion that flashes across Tony’s face – far too quickly for Steve to get an adequate reading on it.

“Welcome back.” Tony says over the balcony, not bothering to come down and Steve can’t help but want to rush up those stairs and pull Tony into a hug. The space that remains between them even though they’re in the same area is painful in a strange way. “You can drop your stuff off in your dorms. You know where everything is. If you get lost somehow, you can ask FRIDAY for help.” Tony’s voice lacks the warmth that Steve remembers. This is his ‘Tony Stark – Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist’™ voice. It’s the one he uses in public.

“Tony…” Steve isn’t really sure what to say as brown eyes land on him. “Can…can we talk?” There’s a second before Tony lets out a soft sigh and nods.

“Yeah, of course. Why not?” He seems to be muttering more to himself than anyone else and T’Challa places a gentle hand on Tony’s arm in clear concern. It irritates Steve a little to see the action, and the feeling worsens as Tony gives the other man an easy smile before walking down the stairs towards Steve and the others. “This way.” He motions to one of the conference rooms with his hand and Steve follows him, closing the door after they’ve walked through it. “What can I help you with?”

“…I just wanted to see how you were doing…It’s…it’s good to see you again Tony.” Tony’s smile doesn’t reach his eyes. Steve can tell, and he isn’t sure if Tony is doing it intentionally or really just not realizing that Steve can notice the difference.

“It’s good to see you again too.” The words don’t sound sincere. “And I’m good. Better than good these days, but thanks for asking.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Tony does a small head incline.

“Was that it? Greetings and pleasantries?”

“You never texted back.” There’s a question in the statement and for a moment there’s a blank look on Tony’s face before he seems to realize what Steve’s talking about.

“The phone? Oh, I gave it to Rhodey.”

“What? Why would you do that? I sent it for you, for us to be able to communicate.” Tony pauses for a moment, a grimace crosses his face for a brief second.

“No offense Rogers, but communication wasn’t one of our strong suits before this whole mess. I don’t really think a flip phone is really going to change that.” Tony puts his hands in his pockets and shifts his weight on his feet, leaning his body weight back and forth in that way he does whenever he’s uncomfortable about something. “As for why I gave it to Rhodey, it was a direct link to you and the other Avengers. If something happened I couldn’t trust that I’d call you. I needed someone I could trust to take that decision out of my hands.” He shrugs. “It wasn’t really done maliciously against you, I just…” He trails off and doesn’t finish the sentence.

“I thought we did alright.” The look Tony gives him is dubious and Steve can’t help but look away for a moment. When he looks back Tony’s aborted his nervous shifting.

“Well…Like I said before. Welcome back, you have run of the place. You know the drill. Try not to get into too much trouble.” It sounds like Tony’s dismissing him and Steve struggles to sooth this wound between them.

“Are you busy later? I mean...if you wanted to get dinner or something? Maybe fill me in on what you’ve been up to?” Tony gives him a look before shaking his head.

“Sorry, I can’t.”

“Tony…I know…I know that I hurt you, and I know that we’ve got a lot of work to do before we’re anything even remotely close to what we were before…”

Tony holds up a hand to stop his rambling. “I’m not blowing you off. I really can’t, I’ve got an…engagement.” His lips do a little quirk as if he’s just said something funny.

“Oh, okay. What time do you get back? I don’t mind a late dinner.” Tony shakes his head.

“I’m off duty for the next two weeks. I’m not going to be in town.” He sighs. “But…I’ll think about it when I get back. I’m not sure where we stand anymore. If we’re friends, strangers with history or just flat out frenemies…and to be honest I’m not even sure I want to find out anymore.”

“We’re friends Tony.”

“Perhaps.” Is Tony’s almost evasive like answer. “Regardless, I’ve got a plane to catch. So try to keep the coffee grounds out of the disposal this time.”

“Can I ask where you’re going? I mean just in case something happens?”

“Well, seeing as War Machine, Spider-Man, Vision and the Black Panther are going to be there, I think I’m good.” That statement makes Steve curious.

“Wait, is this a mission?”

“Not in the slightest.”

“Why are the others going with you then?”

“Well – Rhodey, Viz and the Spider were invited. And if T’Challa isn’t there then we’ve got _other_ issues.” It’s said with an undercurrent of amusement as Tony’s fingers come up, almost absentmindedly, and they start toying with a delicate looking silver chain.

“Invited?” Steve asks and Tony nods.

“Yeah, so you’ll be working together with Carol and Hope. Don’t worry, they know how to hold their own. You’ll get along fine.”

Steve considers pressing it, but now doesn’t seem like the time. There’s a lot that he’d like to tell Tony, things that made themselves so clear while the two of them were apart.

“Oh, okay. I’m looking forward to it.” He gives Tony a slightly hopeful smile. “Maybe we can do dinner when you get back?”

“We’ll see.” There’s a moment of awkward silence before FRIDAY interrupts them.

 _‘Boss? Rhodes has entered the building.’_ Tony nods and moves past Steve, exiting the room and Steve follows him. It’s good to see Rhodey standing on his own two feet. Rhodes drops a duffel bag down and there’s a white wrapped present in his hand as he pulls Tony into a hug.

“Let’s get this show on the road.” He holds out the present for Tony. “Mom wanted me to give this to you, she said not to let you open it until the ceremony though.” Tony lets out a small whine as he looks at the present and then back up at Rhodey with big doe eyes.

“Rhodey Bear that’s just cruel.”

“No, writing that speech was cruel. Pepper cut half of the embarrassing stories that I wanted to tell.”

“Only half?”

“I may have snuck a few more in on the final write.” Tony laughs.

“I expect to be mortified. I hope you went for gold.” Rhodes gets a grin.

“Oh I did…I did.”

“Speech?” Steve asks after a few moments and Rhodes gives him a carefully neutral look.

“Rogers.” Steve gives him a smile.

“It’s good to see you again Rhodes.”

“Wish I could say likewise.” Tony elbows Rhodes in a completely non-subtle way.

“Who’s the wedding present for?” Natasha asks as she approaches the group and Steve feels like the air has been punched out of him.

“Wedding present?” He croaks and Rhodey nods like he’s addressing a particularly stupid child. Natasha points towards the gift in Tony’s hands. “You’re engaged?” The question feels torn from him and Tony takes a second before nodding once and tugging at the small chain again, this time pulling it forth from under his shirt. A ring hangs from it and Steve feels the bottom of his stomach drop out. “You and Pepper got back together?”

It makes sense. Pepper and Tony have so much history. Yeah, Tony had told him that they’d broken up two years ago – why was Steve so foolish as to believe that they wouldn’t have worked out their issues in that timeframe?

“I should hope not.” There’s a familiar voice behind him and Tony smiles as T’Challa comes into view.

 _“Well – Rhodey, Viz and the Spider were invited. And if T’Challa isn’t there then we’ve got_ other _issues.”_ The statement from before echoes in his mind with a new horrifying clarity. T’Challa comes over and takes Tony’s hand, pulling it up and laying a soft kiss on the back of it and Steve’s fist clenches as his throat closes up.

Tony can’t be marrying T’Challa.

Tony isn’t supposed to be marrying anyone.

“Congratulations.” Natasha offers up and Steve nods mutely trying to hide his dismay. Steve glances down at the small ring on the silver chain and up at the smile on Tony’s lips that isn’t directed at him.

“Well, let’s get this show on the road.” Rhodes beckons them and pushes everyone into movement as they grab his bag and head towards the hangar. It’s where they’ll get on the plane destined for Wakanda- where Tony will be forever out of his reach.

For a moment Steve considers saying something – considers offering forth his claim…but the moment passes, a moment too long apparently as the small group walks down the hall away from where Natasha and Steve stand.

“It’s good to be home.” Natasha says a few seconds after they’ve disappeared from view and Steve nods.

“Yeah…just like old times.”


End file.
